EXPERIMENTS UPON VOLUNTEERS TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE AND MODE OF SPREAD OF INFLUENZA {aka, "SPANISH FLU"}, HYGIENIC LABORATORY— BULLETIN No. 123 FEBRUARY, 1921— Treasury Department, United States Public Health Service (in pages 172 to 272 of this PDF).
«CONCLUSIONS {page 269 of the PDF}:
The results of these experiments indicate PRESUMPTIVELY that influenza MAY be transmitted by means of the secretions of the upper respiratory passages from patients in the early stages of this disease, probably within less than 12 hours from onset. VERY DEFINITE CONCLUSIONS CAN NOT BE DRAWN from our experiments for two reasons:
First, the UNCERTAINTY OF OUR DIAGNOSIS IN RECIPIENTS AND DONORS on account of the LACK OF DECISIVE CRITERIA AS TO WHAT IS INFLUENZA, and, second, the clouding of our results by the transmission of streptococcic tonsillitis to many of our volunteers. The apparently SUCCESSFUL TRANSMISSION OF INFLUENZA OCCURRED IN ONLY A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THE INSTANCES ATTEMPTED, the recipients being young male adults in a region where epidemic influenza had recently prevailed, and possibly,
therefore, of more than average resistance.
In contrast to the DIFFICULTY IN TRANSMITTING INFLUENZA BY MEANS OF SECRETIONS, acute streptococcic tonsillitis may readily be transmitted in this way, and with a high percentage of success, even when the donor is apparently merely a carrier of the streptococcus.
Attempts to transmit influenza by means of cultures of Pfeiffer's bacillus and of Mather's streptococcus were unsuccessful.
Pfeiffer's bacillus is found in the throats of many people who are free from influenza, but shows a tendency to multiply and become predominant during an attack of the disease.»
These conclusions, however, contradict the specific results of each of the three series of experiments reported within the document, where we find that NONE of the volunteer soldiers exposed to the fluids of patients with symptoms of Spanish Flu contracted the Spanish Flu symptoms.
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